Assessing governance of strategic planning for sustainable energy transitions: a sociotechnical approach for grid-based renewable energy development in Nigeria.

Adedokun, Racheal; Strachan, Peter; Singh, Anita

Abstract

This paper examines the planning process and governance of new renewable energy technology development on the Nigerian grid (solar and wind). Globally, there has been a drive to transition to cleaner and sustainable energy futures. Therefore, Nigeria created policies and strategies to foster clean energy transition to improve energy access and incessant power outages on the grid, which is the primary channel for power supply. However, this government initiatives are hitherto ineffective because the current reliance on the fossil-fuel-dominated system has created a 'technology lock-in' where the regime-system is entrenched deeply in the country's current governance: cultures, structures, and practices. Although there has been research in energy transition and renewable energy development; however, most literature has focussed mainly on off-grid systems and the aggregated electricity sector. Also, these have been reviewed from the financial, technical, and policy perspectives with little attention to the sociotechnical aspect of the transition. Hence, we used the Transition Management Framework to inform this study. This framework is utilised to investigate and assess the governance - actors, planning process and instruments - of grid renewable energy and highlight the difficulties of managing transitions. This paper presents a conceptualised transition management model through an interpretivist philosophical standpoint. Thirty-one in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with industry and non-industry experts. The preliminary findings from an inductive thematic analysis indicate that the challenges are multifaceted and include stakeholder misalignment, governance and policy issues, accountability and transparency, institutional and political challenges. Theoretically, there is evidence of emerging strong frontrunner and support networks influencing renewable energy policies, strategies, and development. However, the study concludes that for a notable and structural change to occur, the Federal government needs to play a crucial role in steering and facilitating the transition to renewable energy.

Citation

ADEDOKUN, R., STRACHAN, P. and SINGH, A. 2022. Assessing governance of strategic planning for sustainable energy transitions: a sociotechnical approach for grid-based renewable energy development in Nigeria. Presented at the 3rd International conference on energy research and social science: energy and climate transformations, 20-23 June 2022, Manchester, UK.

• Presentation Conference Type: Lecture
• Conference Name: 3rd International conference on energy research and social science: energy climate transformations
• Conference Location: Manchester, UK
• Start Date: Jun 20, 2022
• End Date: Jun 23, 2022
• Deposit Date: Apr 2, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: May 2, 2024
• Keywords: Greenhouse gas emissions; COP26; Nigeria; Net zero
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1769909